Friday, July 02, 2010

At first, when I got the message/email from Nazeen, I have to admit I was feeling a little wary (I am generally wary of any kind of invites - sorry Nazeen, no offense)...

... but the product she described did sound really interesting so I figured it wouldn't hurt to go to Little Havana in Changkat Bukit Bintang to check it out.(Dunno why? - what used to be Little Havana is now just called Havana, as indicated by the nice new sign outside)

Upstairs in Havana....

What is the product?HOT CAN™ - an environmentally friendly, self heating canned drink!(Currently with 3 flavours available - Latte, Mocha and Hot Chocolate)

Some like it Hot!....

Special mention: Yummy! - Crab cakes and other finger foods while we waited for the event to start:

A platter of crab cakes....

(ANYWAAAAY, moving on....*grin*)

The night started with a short introductory speech by the CEO and creator, Dato' Kenneth Kolb:

Smart fella....

They passed each of us a naked can of Mocha** to try that night:(** It was without the normal laminated packaging on top so that we could see the spongey layer underneath)

Naked can next to a "fully clothed" one....

INSTRUCTIONS:1) Peel & Press(Pull off the tamper proof layer at the bottom, set down on a stable surface and press the middle of the plastic "cap" till it "cracks"...)

The bottom of the can....

2) Shake!(Gently shake the can for about 30 seconds? And don't be alarmed if you see steam coming out of the top)

Shake shake shake....

3) Look at the temperature stickers - Green means hot enough to drink!(If the other sticker turns Red, it means be careful! - may be a bit too hot)

Be careful, check first before drinking....

4) If it's the right temperature, drink!:(Here's a photo of everyone trying it out)

Steaming up....

Ok, first of all, let me disclaim that I generally do not like hot drinks (in Malaysia) - mostly due to the humid and hot 30+ degrees (averagely) celcius temperature we have here.

Still, overall I found the taste of the mocha pretty good for a canned coffee***, creamy enough and with a balanced coffee/chocolate flavour, although it was a tad too sweet for me.(*** Hmmm, a 2nd disclaimer: Please do not expect this to beat the taste of a freshly brewed coffee - it's just not the same thing so not fair to compare...)

Here are the other 2 flavours available - Latte and Hot Chocolate:

2 more flavours, so far....

According to the people from Hot Can, this can retail for anywhere between RM6 and RM9 in most major stores in Malaysia. Unfortunately, the range is a little wide (I think I've even seen it sold for RM10 in Mont Kiara) as they cannot control how much margin the store owner wants to make on it, despite their recommended pricing.

Hmmmm, I do hope that soon they will venture in other variants like soup (or sake! *yay* *kampaiiiiii*)... but we'll have to see lah.

SHOUT OUT:- To Nazeen and everyone from Mongoose and Hot-Can that made this night possible: Thanks! I really enjoyed myself, and I think it's a great concept - best of luck with it. - To all the bloggers there that night: So nice to catch up with those I know, and to meet some new friends! *hugs*

So, it's: Convenient and enviromentally friendly self-heating halal drink in a can BUT nothing bad to say really, it just depends on whether you like hot drinks and apparently despite their best efforts to recommend an afforable retail price to shops, it is being sold for anything between RM6 and RM 9.....